> many of the companies that provide 401(k) were on the verge of collapse in 2008.

The stock market went to shit, not the providers. The 401k appeal is that it's an account you *own* and the government can't touch for money, it would be the same as expropriating a bank account, which to be fair, the Argentinian goverment kind of did in 2001, hence why since then, people there save money in usd cash or in a foreign account, not in the local financial system. If the US government has to expropriate or do weird stuff in general with 401k accounts, we are in a situation where shit hit the fan long ago.